A FRIEND and colleague of the British peace activist Norman Kember, who is being held hostage in Iraq, says he has mixed emotions about the new video footage showing him to be alive.

John Johansen-Burg, of Rannoch Avenue, St Peter's, Worcester, spoke to the Worcester News after a video of Mr Kember was aired at the weekend by Arabic television station al-Jazeera.

Mr Johansen-Burg said: "I am delighted to see that video and particularly to notice that although Norman appears tired, as one would expect, he and the other hostages are being treated reasonably well.

"But the hostage takers' demands were repeated in that all the prisoners held in Iraq by the Americans are released. That was very distressing." A group calling themselves The Swords Of Truth abducted Mr Kember, aged 74, along with Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and an American, Tom Fox, 54, in Baghdad, on Saturday, November 26, 2005.

Mr Johansen-Burg, who has known Mr Kember for more than a decade through the Network of Christian and Peace Organisations (NCPO), added: "Norman Kember is a very committed peace worker and has been for many years.

"He goes to a lot of demonstrations and meetings about peace and is also on a lot of committees. He is very much a person who likes to follow up talk with action.

"He has a warm and human character and relates well with young people."

On Saturday, January 7, Mr Johansen-Berg, who is a minister with the United Reform Church as well as an international director for the Commission for Reconciliation and chairman of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, with whom Mr Kember is a trustee, organised a multi-faith vigil for the kidnapped men in Birmingham.

Another vigil also took place in Evesham on Thursday, January 26, at the Quakers' meeting house in Cowl Street.